Six Little Secrets(28)

‘It would be helpful,’ Teddy added. ‘If I get low blood sugar, I’m really sluggish.’

Mr. Curtis’ gaze fell to Zoe, and she nodded slightly. He’d seen her with a Pop Tart earlier, but he didn’t say anything. Perhaps he wanted the task finished, no matter how it got done.

Q pulled out his wallet and fanned several dollar bills. He hesitated and cocked his head. ‘Teddy, you have any spare change?’

Teddy’s eyes widened.

Q grinned and clapped a hand on Teddy’s shoulder. ‘Just kidding man, this one’s on me.’ Then he stood up. ‘I’ll go to the machine by the gym. I love those Kit Kats.’

‘I’m not falling for that,’ Mr. Curtis said, holding out his hand for the money. ‘If I get you food, I expect no more delay in getting this finished. You hear me?’

‘No problem,’ Q said, sitting down. ‘Right, guys?’

They all agreed by either mumbling a response or nodding.

Mr. Curtis shrugged. ‘I expect you to behave while I’m gone. I won’t be long.’

They showed their dedication to the chain by getting back to it without another word.

The moment the doors closed behind their teacher, Q sprang up from his chair.

‘Where are you going?’ Holly asked.

‘The vending machine outside the gym is out of order,’ Q said. ‘I needed to get him out of the room for a little while.’

Zoe’s eyebrows drew together. ‘To do what?’

‘To get our phones,’ Teddy said, standing up.

He was on the same page as Q. When had that happened?

A smile played on Teddy’s lips, and Zoe saw a flash of the boy she used to play with every single afternoon when they were younger.

‘That’s the best idea anyone’s had all day,’ Cece said.

When Zoe got up, she noticed a lot of writing on the notebook in front of Teddy. In fact, two sets of handwriting filled the page. Apparently, he and Q had been busy devising a plan while they were supposed to be searching the yearbooks. With their phones, they’d be able to expand their search. They all would.

‘Jackie, Holly, and Cece stay here and work on the chain,’ Teddy said, taking charge. ‘Zoe, come with us.’

‘Why do I have to sit here?’ Cece asked.

‘If Curtis comes back and we haven’t done more he’s going to get suspicious,’ Jackie said.

Q winked at Jackie, and then the two of them took off toward the office, leaving Zoe.

Zoe looked at Jackie, then at Q. When had they started getting along? She was so wrapped up in the tasks and her impending doom that she’d barely noticed a shift in their relationship. In all of their relationships. They’d forged a strange bond over their short time together, and it was hard to wrap her head around it.

‘Zoe, is there a key anywhere?’ Teddy asked when she caught up with the guys.

‘To the cabinet?’ she asked. ‘I don’t know, but Mrs. Jenkins has a key ring in her bottom desk drawer.’

Zoe headed for the desk and opened the bottom drawer. She handed over the ring to Q and crossed her arms. The hairs on her arms prickled and she shivered. Breaking the rules again excited her, a little more so than when she’d defied Mr. Curtis and retrieved the yearbooks.

Mr. Curtis would be so disappointed if he caught them. She might have to serve detention for a reason next week. Though if Mr. Curtis caught her in the office with Teddy and Q, she wouldn’t be alone. For the first time that day, that thought didn’t bother her.

The guys didn’t seem as affected by it. It made sense that Teddy wanted to know what happened to his bank account and Cece probably had had at least one phone call from her parents about the email, if it had been sent at all. Without their phones, they could only speculate. Now they needed proof to make sure this person was doing as they promised to all of them.

Q tried all of the keys. ‘None of these fit. We need a smaller one.’

Zoe couldn’t recall seeing any other keys. Mrs. Jenkins was a trusting older woman, and she never needed to lock anything, not even her office. If there was a key, Mrs. Jenkins probably had it somewhere in the open. Unless Mr. Curtis took the key with him? ‘I’ll check the desk.’

‘We don’t have time for this,’ Q said, glancing at the door.

‘I’m working on it,’ Zoe said. She wanted to prove herself worthy of being there with them. They trusted her. She checked the middle drawer, moving all the pens, pencils, paper clips, and random papers aside to see if there was another key. She even checked the bottom of the drawer to see if it was attached there. Then she shivered at the memory of Jackie’s punishment.

She thought of Victor. He would be able to open it. But they couldn’t involve anyone else. This wasn’t his problem and Zoe would feel terrible if he got caught up in this. If there were consequences for involving anyone else, she wouldn’t want to push Jacob to reveal all of their secrets.

‘Screw this,’ Q said and reached into his front pocket. He pulled out two thin pieces of metal.

‘What are those?’ Teddy asked.

‘My lockpicks,’ Q said.

‘You know how to pick locks?’ Zoe asked.

‘My parents lock their liquor cabinet,’ he said with a smirk.

Zoe hoped that he’d be able to do it. If they didn’t get the phones, sneaking into the office would have been for nothing.